Glossary of Indoor Air Quality Control Terms

Welcome to our glossary of indoor air quality control terms - we hope you will find terms and definitions that will enlighten you with a scientific understanding of indoor air quality control products offered by ZAND-AIR™. Much of our time is spent indoors, working, schooling, sports activities, exercising at the gym, or in our homes. The air we breathe impacts our overall health. Lurking in the air are many pollutants we are unaware of such as chemicals, gases, and airborne pathogens that cause illness, allergies, heart disease, and even cancer. So you can see indoor air quality control is essential to our well being. As you browse through our individual product pages to find the ZAND-AIR™air filtration/purification product that is right for you, feel free to click on any of the highlighted terms and they will bring you back to this glossary of indoor air quality control terms.

Absorb - is taking in of another substance by the volume not surface

Activated Carbon Filter - This is a porous material made from many possible items like peat, coal, nutshells, and lignite. The “activation” process makes this material capable of adsorption or chemical reactions and turns it into a type of carbon.

Adsorb - to take up and hold on the surface of a solid or liquid

Advanced Oxidation Process - (APO) is a method used which involves oxidation with four reagents, air and often ultraviolet irradiation to clean waste water of organic and inorganic contaminates. This process is very exact and uses preprogrammed combinations, dosages, and sequences. Reagents which are used are oxygen, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide

Air filtration - cleaning of the air using a variety of particle capturing in filters.

Air purification - using filtration/UV light to clean the air of unwanted microorganisms, odors, fungus, mold, and other impurities that cause disease, allergies, and illness.

Ambient Atmosphere - The air we breathe which generally consists approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, and about 1% of rare gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, hydrogen, argon, and helium. Factories, automobiles and other pollutants contribute to changes in our ambient atmosphere.

Andrology is the medical specialty that deals with male health, particularly relating to the problems of the male reproductive system and urological problems that are unique to men.

Approved aerosol - solid particles, fine liquids, microscopic and submicroscopic particles or dropletssuspended in a gas or air

ASHRAE - American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers is a society that is based in Atlanta Georgia that has approximately 50,000 members internationally. They are subdivided into student branches, regions and chapters.. These members gather twice a year and exchange ideas on new technology.

Benzene - a highly flammable organic chemical compound, it is known to cause cancer and therefore it is used sparingly as an additive in gasoline. Its uses in other industries include, but not limited to, plastics, dyes, drugs, and synthetic rubber

Biofilm - biofilm is an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells adhere to each other on a surface. These adherent cells are frequently embedded within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substance. (Sometimes referred to as slime). - Wikipedia

Blue visible light - the light you see from the air purification units

CAC - Chemically Active Compound

Carcinogenic agents - cancer causing substance

Clastogenic -is an adjective that describes the ability of an agent or process to induce disruption or breakages to genetic material.

Dwell time - a period of time in which particles are held in a chamber

Electrostatically charged - A surface that carries an electrical charge that attracts particles

ETL certified-Electrical Testing Lab (U.S.A.) - A product bearing the ETL Listed Mark is determined to have met the minimum requirements of prescribed product safety standards. Moreover, the mark indicates that the manufacturer's production site conforms to a range of compliance measures and is subject to periodic follow-up inspections to verify continued conformance

Germicidal Ultraviolent Light - Part of a purification process that uses (UV) light to destroy harmful bacteria, viruses, fungus, mold, and volatile organic compounds, on food, air, and water at the cellular level. It is often used in combination with various filtration systems to help remove harmful micro-organisms.

HEPA Filter - High Efficiency Particulate Air filter. This filter is normally made from fiberglass or other fibrous material and is capable of trapping microscopic particles and organisms as small as .3 micrometers in diameter and smaller. Specific standards must be met to qualify a filter for the HEPA name.

Highly reactive - short life, high energy

HVAC - Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning

Hydrogen chloride - a colorless gas that can be corrosive in the presence of moisture

IVF - In vitro fertilization, the ovum is fertilized by a sperm outside the live body and then placed in the womb after three or five days.

MERV particle filtration- Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, residential ratings are from 1-12 the higher the number the more efficient the filter is at capturing particles. MERV 13 is for Superior Commercial Buildings.

Micron - 1/1000 of a millimeter - 1 x 10-6

Micro particles - a small piece of matter that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Molecule - a group of at least two atoms -- smallest particle of matter

Nanometer -(nm) one billionth of a metre 1 x 10 -9

Off Gassing - the release of gas from various materials used in building or repairing buildings such as sealants, lubricants, and adhesives. These gases seep from cracks and crevices where they are trapped, absorbed, adsorbed, evaporate, frozen or have caused a chemical reaction that produces off gassing.

Ozone - O3 - an unstable allotrope. This is considered poisonous when it exists in the air we breathe. However in the upper layer of our atmosphere is provides protection from dangerous UV rays. It is an oxidizing agent that is highly reactive and used for cleaning and deodorizing - the air, water - and for the treatment of industrial waste.

Particulate filter - A filter that can remove particles as small as .03 microns from the air

Photocatalysis - Is the process of using photons of light or other radiant energy to accelerate a chemical reaction acting either directly or by exciting a catalytic substance (semi-conductor) that in turn brings about the main reaction without consuming itself. Photocatalysis is the opposite of photosynthesis.

Photocatalytic oxidation- Is the process of using photons of light or other radiant energy, in our case UVC radiation combined with TiO2 (titanium dioxide) creating free radicals that in turn destroy both molecular and cellular structure converting harmful gases to benign ambient gases. These gases are finally reduced to CO2 and water

Photocatalytic Oxidation Chamber - These are compartments within air filtration equipment where the photocatalytic oxidation takes place.

Sub microscopic particles - extremely tiny particles that cannot be seen even under the most powerful light microscope available.

Sulphuric acid - a strong mineral acid, it is used in car batteries, oil refining, fertilizer manufacturing, and many other industries.

TiO2 - Titanium Dioxide is a naturally occurring mineral element and is found in nature in minerals namely rutile, anatase, and rarely brookite TiO2. It is also found in high pressure forms in the Ries Crater.

Toxic Chemicals - very harmful chemical

VOC - Volatile Organic Compound - is an organic chemical compound that can pollute the indoor and outdoor atmosphere and cause serious health problems and illness to living organisms.

Zylene - a chemical that is used in several industries as a solvent such as leather, printing, and rubber. Exposure at high levels for short periods of time can cause skin, eyes, and throat and lung irritation.